Dying & Prospering
by Sebrious
Summary: The Cawley Gang was once a successful outlaw gang that robbed banks, coaches, and made themselves known in the Wild West. However their fall in 1899 leads them in Saint Denis in 1907, working under Guido Martelli, the new crimelord in Saint Denis after Angelo Bronte. Will the Cawley Gang prosper once more under Martelli? Or will they die out as one of the last gangs from the West?


**A/N: Well it has been a while, hasn't it? Well here's a story about RDR2, I love the game, and I decided to write my own fan story. This story revolves around the "Cawley Gang". I hope you all enjoy; it's been a while since I wrote a story so some parts may be sloppy or bad, just let me know what you think!**

"Line up boys, get ready for this photograph." Leonardo Cawley told his fellow gang members as he aligned the camera to be a perfect fit for every gang member to be included. "This'll go down in history." murmured Leon. Leon quickly ran to the front of the Tumbleweed saloon, and he aligned himself perfectly to be in front of everyone. He was the gang leader, after all.

The photographer behind the camera clicked a button, and the camera flashed, capturing the entirety of the Cawley Gang. Everyone was doing an intimidating pose, having their arms crossed, or glaring at the camera. The photographer went into the General Store to have the photograph developed, and that left the gang to chat about the picture.

"I was thinking I'd have to stay in that pose forever."

"Hopefully it turns out good."

"We should get some drinks after this!"

Finally, the photographer came back with the picture fully printed out. It was great, the lighting was perfect, the sun shining on the gang perfectly. Leon handed the photographer 5 dollars and took the picture from his hands. "It… looks great!" Leon exclaimed, a huge grin on his face.

The whole gang laughed and cheered as they entered the saloon to get some drinks.

Later that night, the gang was celebrating playing poker, having drinks, singing and dancing at their camp in Plainview, New Austin.

One of Leon's gunmen, Sebastian Vicente, a tall, 25-year-old Spanish-American came up to his tent. "You not gonna join in the fun?" Sebastian inquired.

Leon looked up from the photograph they took earlier that day and replied, "Nah, I don't feel like it."

Sebastian nodded. "All right boss, I'll see you later."

Leon nodded in acknowledgement and looked at the back of the photograph. He grabbed a pen and wrote every sing gang member in that photograph:

_The Cawley Gang, 1894, Tumbleweed Saloon._

_ Leonardo (Leon) Cawley, leader_

_ Sebastian Vicente, gunman_

_ Asav Laghari, gunman_

_ Thomas (Tommy) Foreman, co-leader_

_ Allen Bowers, gunman_

_ Damian Anderson, gunman/cook_

_ Anthony (Tony) Beckett, gunman_

_ Levi McKee, gunman_

_ Wesley Butler, gunman/scout_

_ Matthew Long, gunman_

_ Elliot Vaughn, trusted gunman, _

_ Luther Carpenter, gunman_

_ Nicholas (Nick) Hall, gunman_

_ Jerry Wright, gunman_

_ Calvin (Cal) Clarke, gunman_

As Leon finished writing the names of all the gang members, he added one last touch. _No stopping the Cawley boys! _Leon added the final writing and framed the picture. He grinned in delight as he saw the tough yet amazing picture of the Cawley Gang. Leon stepped out of his tent and into where all the partying was going on.

"Boys! Ain't nothing stopping us!" Leon exclaimed as he grabbed a drink and stood on top of a log. He became intoxicated from all the drinks he took.

"Outlaws for life!" Nick cried.

The whole gang cheered and whooped as they shared more drinks. Once the whole setting calmed down, Leon sat down on the log he was standing on and spoke in a softer manner. "I've been a cowboy most of my life. I'm 35, and I killed my first man when I was 10 back in Armadillo. The world's out to get us. We're outlaws, but we're not bad men. Sure, maybe we're not no Van Der Linde Gang feeding the homeless or whatever they claim to do with their 'charitable work.' But we sure ain't no Otis Miller boys killing people off for fun! Them songs about are always saying they're honorable, oh-oh, but they sure do love killing folk! We're here for the excitement and the lawlessness! We may kill folk, but that's only if they swing first…" Leon laughed, and the gang bellowed in excitement. Leon started laughing manically, obviously intoxicated from all the drinks he had that night.

Outlaws for life!" Leon exclaimed as he took one more swig from his drink and he threw into the floor.

The gang laughed and cheered. "Nothing will stop us!" Sebastian cried in excitement. The gang whooped and cheered as the party continued…

…

_1907_

"How did we end up here…?" Leon muttered to himself.

Leon looked back at the stagecoach behind him, he had the rest of his gang in the coach, or what was left of it. So many members had left after all the drama that went down in 1899. The gang went into a downward spiral sometime around 1897, as the Pinkerton funding grew tremendously. The Pinkertons were determined to hunt down and kill all outlaw gangs to clean up the ruthless West. The Cawley Gang had stayed in the Wild West until 1898, when the Pinkertons chased them out to West Elizabeth. After that, members had started dropping like flies.

Luther and Nick had been gunned down and tortured by Pinkertons, eventually selling out their location in West Elizabeth in 1899, Allen abandoned the gang in 1901 to live out his life with his new family, In 1902 Wesley went off scouting for a new camp near Annesburg, and was never seen after that. But Leon later found out he went to scout out near Murfree Brood country, and the remains of his head was found on a pole near Beaver Hollow, hanging as a trophy. In 1904, in a desperate attempt to get money and leave the country, Matthew and Damian went out to rob a stagecoach. Both were killed during the robbery, as it was a setup by the Pinkertons, they were brutally gunned down to bits and pieces by a Gatling gun hidden in the back of the coach.

Tony and Sebastian's friendship went downhill as the gang started falling apart in 1899, as the Pinkerton funding grew tremendously, Tony and Sebastian each had differing ideas on what to do, Tony wanted to send violent and brutal messages to scare the public, he had wanted to massacre and burn the towns of Valentine, Strawberry and some lone houses up in the Grizzlies. Sebastian had disagreed to this, saying small-time robberies were a better idea. and it had put a strain on their relationship.

As Leon sat down in the stagecoach with his gang members, he closed his eyes remembering the death of Tony. Tony had shot Sebastian in the back in the middle of camp in 1905. Sebastian fell to the floor, and as Tony walked over to quickly to Sebastian to finish him off, Sebastian quickly turned around and shot Tony clean through the head. Leon shuddered remembering Tony's dead body with a decapitated head in the middle of camp. It took a long time for Sebastian to recover from his wounds, but he later turned out to be okay. Leon looked over at Sebastian now, he was staring off into the sky, daydreaming. Leon remembered how long it took for him to forgive Sebastian, their close relationship never the same since.

Leon grabbed the photo of the gang in his pocket and stared at it. He looked at the picture and focused on Tony, the young then 22-year old was always Leon's favorite, he was the golden boy. He was the good-looking one in the camp, charming, a great shot, and knew how to keep his head. In the end, he never did truly keep his head.

All that was left was Leon, Sebastian, Asav, Tommy, Levi, Elliot, Calvin, and Jerry.

Sebastian nudged Leon, "Leo, we're here." Sebastian informed Leon. Leon was sitting in the back of the stagecoach, he poked his head out and saw Asav driving the coach, he looked around and saw a sign that said, _"Saint Denis."_

Leon took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Let's start over then."


End file.
